Trisha Yearwood’s New Album Is ‘Almost Finished’, and She Loved Making It

More than a decade after Trisha Yearwood released her last studio album -- 2007's Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love -- she's paying her fans back for the wait. In 2019, Yearwood plans to release two new projects.

"When it rains, it pours," she says with a laugh. "I haven't done a record in forever, so I just had to do two."

Yearwood's first new album of the year, a record of Frank Sinatra covers called Let's Be Frank, is already available at Williams-Sonoma stores and will be released widely in mid-February. But a country album is coming, too; in fact, it's "almost finished," she tells The Boot.

"We're looking at fall of this year [for a release date]," Yearwood shares.

Yearwood confesses that she missed being in the studio, and has been having an awful lot of fun now that she's had not one, but two, reasons to get back in there. There's a comfort that comes with being an older artist -- "It's worth the trade for the wrinkles, because it's so awesome to feel comfortable in your own skin," she says -- and with knowing that her fan base is there for her.

"It's [been] almost like when I made my first [album], only better, because I had so much freedom when I made my first record because I just didn't know what to be afraid of," Yearwood reflects. "I didn't know what was coming, and I didn't know how the business worked or any of that, and then when you learn how it works, then you start feeling all this pressure ...

"And then, now, fast forward, I'm like, I just want to enjoy myself in the studio," she continues. "We know we'll have a following. We'll figure out how to get it out there."

Admittedly, Yearwood did have at least one concern about making a new album after so many years: "I wasn't sure if I'd ever find songs that really felt like me," she says, "because country music has changed a lot since I made a record."

Because she doesn't write songs herself all that often, Yearwood relies on Nashville's professional songwriters to supply her with material that still feels true to her, "so I have to really search and search."

"But," she continues, "we found great songs."

In addition to her new music, Yearwood is keeping busy with her Food Network cooking show, Trisha's Southern Kitchen, and will join her husband, Garth Brooks, at his stadium tour stops when she can. But she's especially making music a priority this year.

"Nines and 19s are, like, my [lucky] number," says Yearwood, whose birthday is Sept. 19, "so I feel like this is my year to get new music out."